July 30th

Today we unloaded the parts to the telescope which Joe and Meghan had picked up from Johns Hopkins.  We put the large parts under a canopy behind Facilities and the more precision equipment will be kept inside.  I also researched information for a temporary greenhouse or other protective shelter for the telescope come winter.

July 26th

Today was Alyssa's last day for the summer, so we will be missing her! We got someone from Facilities to help us remove the stubborn rusted bolts which we were unable to remove, and re-tap some of the bolt holes where we removed rusted bolts.  I also ordered inserts for some of the bolts which will be used for adjustment, which will allow for easy use.  I also got a quote from a supplier for brackets to attach the aluminum panels to the body of the telescope.  Joe will be going down with some other students tomorrow to get the remaining parts from Johns Hopkins.

July 25th

I called McMaster-Carr a few times and after talking to several people over at the business and at the college, we decided that we were going to keep the painted honeycomb panels. McMaster does not have any panels that do not have any finish on them so we will use what we received and hopefully they will not interfere with the IR signals. They will have to be cut and have holes drilled to match the original panels. A few more screws and washers need to be ordered to complete the assembly of the pieces of the aluminum frame that are already on campus. Joe and one other student will go down to Johns Hopkins University to obtain the rest of the telescope this Friday.

July 24th

To start the day off a bunch of summer physics researchers rotated the telescope so that the mirror is pointing away from the wall. The screws holding the aluminum honeycomb panels were removed and the hex screws holding the panels to the frame were also removed after some convincing from the blow torch. Replacements will have to be ordered of the small hex screws and washers. New brackets will also have to be ordered that are as tall as the replacement panels to better stabilization. Unfortunately, the new honeycomb panels that Tom ordered were painted which was not clear in the data sheet and since we cannot have any materials that might be reflective in the infrared, they have to be sent back. I will look into the return policy for McMaster-Carr and hopefully we can get unpainted panels relatively easily after the mix up. A list was also made of the things that still need to be done so that we can keep an eye on the big picture.

July 20th

Today the mounting surfaces of the support beams as well as any other badly oxidized spots that require more attention will sanded. When the cleaning of these pieces are complete assembly will begin. This step will require multiple people. At least one person will have to hold the piece while another bolts it to the big aluminum frame. We started by loosely attaching the support beams to either side of the big aluminum frame that holds the mirror. Then we got a bunch of extra hands to help slide the two big pieces together and to tilt one side up so the two pieces could be bolted together via the support beams that we had just attached. We do not have enough of the right bolts to attach the two big pieces directly together, so we will have to wait until more are ordered so that we can finish the task. We also have to order replacements for the metal steel rollers sometime in the near future.

July 19th

Every day for the past few weeks has been pretty much the same. Tom tried drilling out some of the broken screws and used an extractor set to remove the remnants, but was unsuccessful. Drill bits broke as did the extractor set and even heating the aluminum to dilate the thread only helped some. No one knew how challenging this task was going to be and so only the necessary bolts will be replaced. A machinist will be hired to replace the broken and impossible bolts that we think need to be replaced. The rest of the bolts will remain in place. Depending on when we can get the machinist to come in, assembly may start before the impossible bolts are dealt with. 

Today the four support beams that were placed on top of the box prior to moving the big aluminum pieces were cleaned with the aluminum jelly. The mounting surfaces need to be sanded tomorrow so that they are as smooth as can be.  

July 10th

We sanded all mounting surfaces of the telescope, as well as a few other places where the oxidation was bad. Tom had to get Joe to borrow a propane torch from Facilities for the big stubborn bolts and it worked for the most part. The bolts that are broken off will have to be drilled out and an extractor will be used. We can hopefully this get from Home Depot tomorrow.

July 9th

Today we worked on the bolts and final cleaning of the mounting frame for the telescope. Tom sanded the mounting faces and discussed with Joe and Dr. Weatherwax using a torch to remove the few stubbornly rusted bolts.

July 5th

Today we worked mainly on cleaning the part of the aluminum frame that holds the detector. We applied two coats and power washed the frame down a few times. More work was done on the rusted bolts, but we'll have to wait until Monday to talk about using a torch to assist us.

July 3rd

We continued with the cleaning working on the part of the frame that holds the mirror. More work was done in regards to trying to remove the rusted bolts, but there wasn't much success. We are looking into getting new tools that will help in addition to soaking all of the rusted parts in perpetrator. Hopefully we will find something that will work, but if not, we will have to resort to using heat to expend the aluminum to try and ease the rusted bolts out.

July 2nd

More cleaning was done. The aluminum piece that holds the mirror has been coated everywhere with at least one coat of aluminum jelly; some spots were coated twice. Some areas need to have an additional coat applied and power washed and that will take place tomorrow. Tom started working on the rusted nuts and bolts. He was able to replace a few but this might be one of the most challenging steps.